After an entertaining and expensive series opener, lots of viewers got in touch via Twitter to tell us what they thought of George’s second coming. Here are some of the responses:
HouseHistorian: ‘Home show was great..I actually live nearby & was shocked the house had got into such a bad state..fab that they kept the fireplace!’
SJSInteriors: ‘Loved it, thought Kirstie would be a heard act to follow, but George did not disapoint. Tough house to make over. Roll on Thursday’
LivingRoomBuzz: ‘Kitchen space was great but a lot of money to spend without adding extra space – did George’s changes add value in current market?’
Home4AllSeasons: ‘I thought that for such a huge budget there would have been more of a change. only because previously great things done on much less’
What did you think of the new series of The Home Show? Leave comments below for the 4Homes team, or contact us on Twitter.
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I miss Kirsty, however the show was very interesting.
Hi there, I know this programme works to a budget but seems health and safety is a bit of a joke. Knocking down walls no gloves, no hard hats, and to top it all no face masks. Is this for real? I would loose my job if I worked to these standards. You talk about dodgy builders!
Are you actually a builder? – Do you live in the real world? – or the one where we are all forced to jump through hoops for some health & safety pedant. Maybe you live in the same world as the one that would have our children sit in front of an xbox rather than climb trees lest they get hurt.
I can’t believe he got all that work done, and all the furniture for £50,000. Did they not charge for labour?
I am watching the show on 11th June, and am interested in buying some of Ash’s mother’s paintings – could you put me in touch with him.
We are thoroughly enjoying the show George. Really impressed at how you really seem to have a talent for tapping into exactly what each person wants for their home. I like the fact that you put everything right so that the house, when finished, is ’solid’ from outside in. Would love you to come and do our quirky little cottage which needs just about everything done, but would have to win the lottery first! Carry on with the good work , love from Carol Forster in Newcastle x
I challenge the producers and George to make an episode which does not include the following: Painting the whole house white for no apparent reason, George knocking down a wall (partly) making about 10000 times more mess than necessary, steelwork and bi-fold doors, open-plan living – could the show be more formulaic? – No.
July 16 home show. Instead of building a shed in the garden with gadgets in they should have installed the en suite. Now when they want to install one they will move stuff and mess all through the house which has just been decorated how stupid.
It appears to me that George seems to pluck a figure out of the air and then double it. If he really was a qualified architect then surely prior to agreeing the price he would complete a full survey which would expose any problems that might be encountered. We have just had a thirty foot wide dormer extension which cost us 25k. For this we got two larger bedrooms and two ensuites. Where does George get his prices???
I assure you George is a highly qualified and skilled architect! All contributors know that this type of thing is possible before they embark on the programme. Similarly, if you were paying a contractor for a job and unforeseen complications arose, you would be expected to foot the bill. This is really no different.
The reason the costs are seem so high is that the wholesale structural changes to an existing house can actually be far more expensive than building a new house – and George makes huge structural changes to make the house work better for the owners. To me, £123K seems incredibly cheap for a house that has been given a complete layout overhaul and a super-high end finish. To achieve the same thing without George’s free time and expertise would, in my opinion, be a lot more expensive.
I totally agree. We’re watching it now and once again George has used his Random Number Generator to advise on the initial price. It makes uncomfortable viewing watching George haranguing the home owners into spending all their savings. good idea for a show, bad execution.
The Home Show is an absolute disgrace yet again. This time 23rd July the family were robbed of 70,000 which we thought steep for the size of house etc but that wasn’t good enough for George he wanted an extra 53,000 totaling a vulger 123,000 and guess what he created a house with no master ensuite and no storage (totally against what they were promised) and in true Home Show style he added a deck and an ensuite elsewhere with the money he ran out of….disgraceful ….bring back better homes with Carol Voderman
They didn’t have to pay for the decking, the carpenter made them that for free.
Show 23rd July – can completely understand the homeowner’s disappointment. They’d handed over the full budget he asked for and still didn’t get all that George promised. The only explanation for losing en-suite and fitted wardrobes was it took him 10 days to work out how to fit the staircase in. This was George’s fault, something that should have been sorted before building work started. Think Channel 4 should have cover the extra cost and finished the job. The owners shouldn’t have had to bear the cost of George’s mistake. Lovely job though!
Re.The Home Show,23rd July.
What a huge budget!No wonder the poor homeowner was disappointed.Of course the architectural changes were wonderful,the house was more spacious and the attic room lovely.My grouse is the styling.Why can’t George use more (or any) of the family’s own furniture and possessions,even if it does not fulfill his ideas of what’s smart.A family of 5 needs storage and more storage.There wasn’t any,and as the poor owner remarked :”Where is the wardrobe?”There was a stupid daybed,no doubt very designer chic,but hardly necessary,and all sorts of new bedlinen and stuff.,when what they really needed was the en suite finished in the attic room.And George says blythely:Well,that can be added when they have some more money.”Does helive in the real world?This family with 3 growing children just put themselves in hock for £123.000 , there won’t be any spare money for a long time.And I would love to know what happens to all the stuff that was put into storage.! Get real!
Re: Home Show 23rd July 2009.
I was spitting feathers and so angry for the poor householders who, having forked out a massive £123,000 budget got no proper office, no en-suite to master bedroom and no storage! Alot of this is due Georges poor planning and budgeting. The stair positioning was a complete cock-up and should have been obvious from the start – you only have to look at the roof to see it was hipped. Even a competant DIYer would have spotted that! And he calls himself an architect! It is interesting to reflect on the interviews they show with contractors who say ” always have a clear understanding of what the client expects and to keep them informed of any major problems”. George seemed to go blindly on practically removing the planned office and only providing a small desk in the remaining hallway! How is this practical for a man who was making use of a whole dinning room and obviously wanted shelves and filing cabinets etc! Before going ahead with his plan he should have spoken to his clients and told them it wasn’t possible to give them what he promised. A competant builder could have brought this in well under that budget!! Disgracefull!!
The Home Show makes me more and more angry each week. Formulaic designs which any developer worth their salt could deliver, let alone an architect – convert the loft and open the kitchen into the garden – not exactly revolutionary!The last show topped it all. A family who have a problem with finishing jobs in the house and therefore have spaces they dont use. £123,000! later, they are left with the same set of problems only dressed better by not providing storage and leaving one room unfinished altogether. When I employ an architect I get to decide what I want, and set a budget. If the architect does not deliver the brief on time and in budget, it costs him! What you get with George is the worst of all worlds – no choice in the design, an inflated cost to begin with, which he then can’t even keep to, and he hasn’t even got the good grace to deliver the house finished. As far as I am concerned, this program preys on people’s ignorance and I would like to know just exactly how much George and his so called ‘project manager’, builders and interior designers make from these poor unsuspecting home owners.
Oh what a surprise. Once again for the families original budget of £100k George has offered to build them a single garage at the end of the garden which may be able to house a futon for guests and an additional window in the upstairs bedroom. However, if the poor family are willing to cough up an additional 80k George can apparently triple the size of their house and create a replica of the Neverland Ranch for the kids to play in!
I couldn’t have said it better myself your comments really made me and my husband laugh… Every week it gets worse that play room was such a waste of lovely big room and that open plan living area was vile, to me all that money was an absolute waste the house didn’t seem much bigger and they totally ruined that original hallway I would have been mortified.
My husband and I sat there cringing tonight every week its gets worse and he asks for more and more £100,000 is a huge amount of money to hand over and then he practically doubles it yet again and delivers something so out of keeping to the style of house it was vile, that kitchen was stunning and they ruined it with them vile tiles and as for the play room formerly the dining room what a waste of space. Every design he does is modern he never does a traditional design no matter what kind of house the client has to begin with. The budget is always so high because he totally revamps the whole house and buys over priced tat in my personal opinion.
I just wanted to say that i didn’t disagree with the playroom, I would love one to contain all the mess, its just that personally I would have had it in the extension rather than using the Dining Room they had only just got back.
I have really enjoyed the early shows of the Home Show but feel as though the large budgets have spoiled the series. I would like to suggest that a future series is based on average house prices (around £160,000) with a budget of betwwen £20,000 – £30,000.
I would like to see the home owners opinion sought more – e.g. would you rather have the en suite or extremely expensive kitchen worktop.
Having been very critical of last week’s show,I actually want to defend last night’ show.I really don’t know whether with such an enormous budget the family might not have been better off moving house,but leaving that aside,they did end up with a stunning house which suited their needs.I actually think using the dining room as a playroom was a good idea,with three young children you do need somewhere for all the toys do go and they did have a dining space in the extension..Okay,so it was formulaic with the painting everything white,knocking down a wall,bi-fold doors,bringing the garden into the house etc,but still,I think it was a success.
I’m totally addicted to the show, but for all the wrong reasons! I cannot believe the amount of money that is being spent in these renovations week on week. What I would really want to know (as in every other property show) is what the value of the house is at the start, and what the value is at the end! I know that most of the people who are taking part in the show are more interested in staying in the house and making it their home long term – but surely you need to be adding value to the property as an end result? Things change all the time, we live in an unsure economy – what would happen if the owners had to sell up because they lost their job or had to move to another area for the same reason? Would they actually make the money back on their property – or would they be paying for it for many years to come?
I agree with many of the other comments on the page – sometimes you have to be realistic with the cost of things. The week he was looking at lighting – some of the prices were turning my hair grey! And yes, I know, when you’re creating a certain image – you want the best! But come on – the uplighter that was £500!!!!! You can get similar in ikea for about £30!! And at least when you get fed up with it you won’t feel guilty about getting rid of a £30 lamp – whereas you would probably think twice (or more) about chucking out a £500 one.
I feel that the programme has lost something, and would guess that about 90% of the audience could never even dream about spending the levels of money on their home that are being spent each week. And if I could afford it – I wouldn’t! I’d go away and design a custom house to suit my every needs – and have it built from scratch!!!!
“I’d go away and design a custom house to suit my every needs – and have it built from scratch!!!!”
For 178,000 pounds? I don’t think so. The homeowners were very contented with what George did.
After watching last nights The Home Show, I was completely gobsmacked! and not in a good way! I feel that the poor people handing over such a huge amount of money were totally ripped off! Running my own building business, I feel the price charged for the works carried out was utterly over the top! And I find it quite suspicious that George only obtains one quote from one contractor!! Every other property show you watch advises to get at least 3 quotes in order to get the most competitive price. That doesn’t necessarily mean going for the cheapest but I felt what was asked for on last nights show was ridiculous!! You wouldn’t think you would see people being blatantly ripped off on TV but it seems thats whats happening on this show!
Although I was impressed with the end result of this week’s show, I was apalled by the pressure the presenter put on the couple to increase their budget. He should of made the design within the budget. Of course your home will be so much more “fabulous” if you part with another £77 grand. He should not have resorted tp cheap sales type tactics, encouraging them to spend more than they wanted.
I can’t believe its yet another show and another large budget is doubled. Why can’t he provide what people need in the budget they have. Its so unbelievable. If its taken years to find the money where does all this extra come from?! Don’t think I can watch another show as I am so angry plus its so formulaic! Let’s just knock down walls and make a large box at the rear and maybe a big garden shed. Can we get in the real world please?! Tackling real problems on real budgets!
I thought I might be in a minority looking to place a first comment on this site in criticsing the show but I see I’m not…by a long way. So I’ll just add my weight to the comments; that a trained architect should be able to price things much much more closely that is happening in this show.50% out, 70% out etc etc. And increases due to ‘unforseen problems’ hey come on some are very obvious regular issues and should be foreseen. And the prices for the building work never mind the fixtures and fittings….what planet is this show working on? Not on my future viewing list, its just too riduculous.
Why can this programme not say something about energy efficiency measures? This week’s programme moved the boiler, no doubt the new boiler was much more efficient as it was probably a condensing boiler, and as well as using less fossil fuel (equalling less CO2 emissions) also saved the family money. Similarly, in the attic, the walls should have been well insulated and the presenter should have said so. The glass to the extension should have been efficiently double glazed, and this should have been pointed out. The only mention of insulation was in connection with the extension roof, which had run into trouble with the Council’s Building Control system. If we are going to avoid our children living in a world 4 degrees hotter than at present we are going to have to reduce our use of fossil fuels and insulate our houses effectively, and programmes like the Home Show have an important role here.
I find it depressing that Channel 4 led us on with this programme. I really enjoyed the first few episodes even though I could see the formula – I mean for goodness sake – does George own the company that make bi-fold doors? The recent episode where the family virtually doubled their budget and ended up with an un-finished project left me seething. I thought the gentleman was extremely restrained by just leaving the room! I have refused to watch any more. My husband gave the programme the benefit of the doubt, but hearing his account of last nights show finally gave me the impetus to write. What come back do the participants have? At the end of the day it’s not just about the money but these people’s HOMES! They are being taken advantage of for the sake of TV. I am not watching any more, it is too upsetting. I would never let George loose on my beloved home.
Home Show 6th August
Although tonight’s show was about a project completed some months ago,I would still like to make a comment.I would love to know how on earth they managed to do all that was done on £50.000.I just cannot believe it.An extension,skylight,new flooring and carpets throughout,new kitchen, furniture , bathroom with power shower,downstairs loo and so on and so on.What about labour costs,decorating costs,what about those expensive bifold doors,which seem to be a feature of every makeover.I just can’t believe it.When Sara Beenie gives the cost of a makeover she details everything, and that is what I would really appreciate seeing for this project.
I have always been a huge fan of Grand Designs and Kevin McClouds commentry, but George Clark and the Home Show is near damm it as perfect as GD, George has his style of presentation which comes across more attached to the project, wheras kevins is an observer looking in.. The Home Show has certainly renewed my interest in architecture and design.. Please C4 make sure there is a 3rd series.
I really enjoyed this show when it first started but as the weeks go on I’m finding it less and less entertaining, why doesn’t George list what exactly he has spent the cash on like most other programmes, his finish is too high spec, normal people on average incomes do not finish their house of to this standard, lets get a real show on the telly with real budgets, who in this world has £130k plus in their savings account! I must be doing something wrong. And yes I agree lets have a before and after valuation figure on the programme and whilst I’m having a moan what is George’s obsession with those folders doors, everytime!
I would like to agree with the other postings, initially I loved this show and thought George Clark was doing a great job, but to see him get a family to give him an extra £53k and then not even finish the property is unbelievable. No ensuite bathroom and no wardrobes, that poor husband must wonder what it was all for. If George was any good as an architect he would have realised that the stairs could not be built over the existing stairwell straight away and that they would have to lose a bedroom. They then would not have lost ten days on man time and finished the property as was intended. George you need to rethink what you are doing with peoples money, they already have furniture, they don’t need yours, the money would have been better spent on that ensuite and wardrobes. Also why do you never put a shower over the bath in any of the main bathrooms. Nobody nowadays has baths.
Great Show. one of the better home shows on TV makes you realise what can be done with your existing place, I am currently refurbing my entire flat from scratch and I want to get hold of the spray paint system that George uses to paint the entire house “Naked White”, does anyone have any ideas where I can buy or hire such a spray paint system
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